MUMBAI: Thousands of thirsty tipplers crowded liquor shops across the city even before they opened their shutters on Monday morning,over a month and a half after the lockdown was announced. As chaos prevailed and social distancing norms went for a toss, the police were forced to shut shops at some places. The police also resorted to mild lathicharge to disperse the crowd in Ghatkopar, Mulund, Dahisar and Malad.
Late in the evening, the Mumbai Police stated that from Tuesday, patrolling will be intensified and personnel will deployed at all liquor outlets to prevent overcrowding . “Strict action will be taken against those who flout lockdown guidelines,” said DCP Pranay Ashok, Mumbai Police PRO. Police have asked liquor shop owners to issue tokens from Tuesday so that people don’t have to wait for hours in queues or crowd at the counters.
Officials said only 30% of the nearly 800 liquor stores in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region were operational on Monday. Liquor vendors said barely Rs 5 crore worth of alcohol was sold across the region as most shops opened late after receiving the official directive from their district collectors and had to shut by 6pm.
In a related development, paan kiosks will not be allowed to operate in the city as their patrons would unmask in public places to chew or smoke. Even spitting could be dangerous, said a senior FDA official, adding that some paan stalls sell chilled aerated drinks and bottled water, which are hazardous to health in such times.
While sale of liquor has been allowed across the state, 15 districts—including parts of Thane, Palghar, Solapur, Aurangabad, Jalna, Buldhana and Amravati—have issued notifications stating that liquor shops will not be allowed to open till May 17, the extended lockdown deadline. Excise officials said that in Thane, district collector Rajesh Narvekar has refused sale of liquor in urban areas and allowed its sale in those rural areas that are not containment zones.
Bhushan Gagrani, secretary to the CMO, said the excise department had issued directives allowing all liquor shops to open, except in containment zones. “However, special powers have been delegated to district collectors under the Epidemic Diseases Act, by which they can stringent the restrictions even if the state has given relaxation by citing necessary reasons,” he added. As similar scenes were witnessed in other cities of the state following the lockdown relaxations, CM Uddhav Thackeray expressed concern and said the authorities should take action.
In Mumbai, there were reports of overcrowding even before the liquor shops had opened in places like Sion, Matunga, Mulund, Bhandup and Vikhroli in the eastern suburbs, and Dahisar , Kandivli, Malad and Oshiwara in the western belt. At Pedder Road, the police monitored a long queue even as no untoward incident was reported in south Mumbai.
In the Pali area of Bandra (W), two liquor outlets opened by late afternoon and soon large crowds started thronging, forcing the local police to shut one of them by 5pm after residents complained about congestion. “A wine shop was shut down by cops in a housing complex in Versova after the building residents complained about the unruly crowds," said Sahil Kalantri, who works for an NGO.
In Ambernath, police dispersed crowds outside four liquor shops, which were then forced to shut down after just 90 minutes on Monday morning. In Kalyan-Dombivli, the local civic administration did not permit shops to open, and many people who had stood in serpentine lines had to retun empty-handed.
In Navi Mumbai too, the municipal commissioner did not allow shops to open, thereby disappointing hundreds who had queued up since morning.
(Inputs by S Ahmed Ali, Mateen Hafeez, Pradeep Gupta, George Mendonca, Sandhya Nair & Manoj Badgeri)
Late in the evening, the Mumbai Police stated that from Tuesday, patrolling will be intensified and personnel will deployed at all liquor outlets to prevent overcrowding . “Strict action will be taken against those who flout lockdown guidelines,” said DCP Pranay Ashok, Mumbai Police PRO. Police have asked liquor shop owners to issue tokens from Tuesday so that people don’t have to wait for hours in queues or crowd at the counters.
Officials said only 30% of the nearly 800 liquor stores in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region were operational on Monday. Liquor vendors said barely Rs 5 crore worth of alcohol was sold across the region as most shops opened late after receiving the official directive from their district collectors and had to shut by 6pm.
In a related development, paan kiosks will not be allowed to operate in the city as their patrons would unmask in public places to chew or smoke. Even spitting could be dangerous, said a senior FDA official, adding that some paan stalls sell chilled aerated drinks and bottled water, which are hazardous to health in such times.
While sale of liquor has been allowed across the state, 15 districts—including parts of Thane, Palghar, Solapur, Aurangabad, Jalna, Buldhana and Amravati—have issued notifications stating that liquor shops will not be allowed to open till May 17, the extended lockdown deadline. Excise officials said that in Thane, district collector Rajesh Narvekar has refused sale of liquor in urban areas and allowed its sale in those rural areas that are not containment zones.
Bhushan Gagrani, secretary to the CMO, said the excise department had issued directives allowing all liquor shops to open, except in containment zones. “However, special powers have been delegated to district collectors under the Epidemic Diseases Act, by which they can stringent the restrictions even if the state has given relaxation by citing necessary reasons,” he added. As similar scenes were witnessed in other cities of the state following the lockdown relaxations, CM Uddhav Thackeray expressed concern and said the authorities should take action.
In Mumbai, there were reports of overcrowding even before the liquor shops had opened in places like Sion, Matunga, Mulund, Bhandup and Vikhroli in the eastern suburbs, and Dahisar , Kandivli, Malad and Oshiwara in the western belt. At Pedder Road, the police monitored a long queue even as no untoward incident was reported in south Mumbai.
In the Pali area of Bandra (W), two liquor outlets opened by late afternoon and soon large crowds started thronging, forcing the local police to shut one of them by 5pm after residents complained about congestion. “A wine shop was shut down by cops in a housing complex in Versova after the building residents complained about the unruly crowds," said Sahil Kalantri, who works for an NGO.
In Ambernath, police dispersed crowds outside four liquor shops, which were then forced to shut down after just 90 minutes on Monday morning. In Kalyan-Dombivli, the local civic administration did not permit shops to open, and many people who had stood in serpentine lines had to retun empty-handed.
In Navi Mumbai too, the municipal commissioner did not allow shops to open, thereby disappointing hundreds who had queued up since morning.
(Inputs by S Ahmed Ali, Mateen Hafeez, Pradeep Gupta, George Mendonca, Sandhya Nair & Manoj Badgeri)
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